White
Sergeant Tanner White takes
country singer Steve Grand to the Marine Corps Ball

In his YouTube advocacy channel, Tanner White bills himself as your favorite HIV-positive gay Marine. Who could disagree? In a series of videos, the 23-year-old sergeant, stationed in North Carolina, answers questions about life with HIV. He also launched an organization called A Positive Tomorrow to educate about the virus and fight stigma. To that end, White publicly invited country singer Steve Grand to attend the 2015 Marine Corps Ball. Grand accepted, and the two had an “amazing” time, White says. “My goal was to show people that you need to never give up on yourself and that you need to put yourself out there in order to get what you want in life—as well as to gain a friend and ally in my fight against HIV stigma.” Mission accomplished!